


Islands

by 1under_spectra



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: M/M, Non AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-28
Updated: 2014-02-17
Packaged: 2018-01-10 07:37:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1156885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1under_spectra/pseuds/1under_spectra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen figured that Jared would be a permanent part of his life, through thick and thin. But he had no idea it would come to this. Jared stretched out on the shore, starring at nothing, looking for a way home. As far as Jensen could tell, if they couldn't find a way off the island, he would BE Jared's home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Falling For It

It was a shame Cliff couldn't be there. He would have loved the french toast at Miller's on the bay, but Aldo was a good stand in and he enjoyed the breakfast for him. He was always the backup for Jensen and Jared when Cliff wanted time off, so Aldo and the boys headed to Australia for an additional convention. The fans won their hearts and the weather was perfect and all three of them felt overly pampered by the time they made their way back to Sydney Airport two nights later.  


\----------------------------------------------------

At the moment Jared was wrapped around a phone with Genevieve on the other end while Jensen read his ticket, a thick baseball cap hiding his eyes. Aldo kept close behind with them until they got to the ticket line, and right before passing through the gate Jared waved knowingly at two young girls with grinning parents in toe.

"Yeah, right? All over before the storms hit. Love you...I will. Bye babe." His phone was off and stuffed into the back of his jeans before they got to their seats in front. Jensen got the window, Jared had the isle, and Aldo set behind them with an older quiet woman.

Jensen wasn't going to wait for drinks or inflight rules, he knew those better than the back of his hand. He had a large first class chair, his hat, and Jared's thick voice going in and out next to him. As far as 14 hour flights went, this was perfect. He snuggled into the chair and tore through the plastic for his personal blanket. "Wake me up for breakfast?"

"It's 8:30, you sure?"

His eyes were already closed and he wasn't planning on opening them again for a while. The crying baby in the back couldn't bother him now, not with the 'sleep training' he'd been going through with Justice. "Positive." He grinned blindly and settled in when Jared called him an old man.

Jared pocketed Jensen's share of their pre meal snacks an hour later, before everything went to hell.

\----------------------------------------------------

He was in a deep sleep when a violent drop sent him up against his window, hitting himself pretty bad on the cheek. Jared's hands were around his head seconds later and Jensen joined everyone else in looking around the plane for direction. Another drop and a deafening roar cracked over the aircraft. Aldo was calling the stewards but they were all running to the pilots room.

He'd been on so many planes, none of them hit turbulence like this. None of them made these sounds. The co pilot was on the intercom, mashing his words, mumbling, and Jared's hands were still acting as a buffer between his head and the wall. He had one hand on the seat in front of him and he put his other hand over Jared's, and that's when the plane broke apart.

It was so cold when the roof went. It was loud. Aldo put a hand on Jared's shoulder, he was yelling, and then Jared was directing Jensen's hold on the seat. The engines peeled, drowning out most of the sound.

After tonight, Jensen wouldn't recall the free fall or how everything looked suspended in air at that moment.

Everything came back to him as soon as he hit the water. It took seconds to realize that's where he was, shooting straight down into the icy dark, and he and Jared were both out of their seat belts at the same time, swimming up even while flashes of fire and light and color hit the water and sunk around them.

They hit the surface and could only think about breathing. Coughing and breathing. It was Jensen that saw the dark slab in the water a few yards away. He grabbed at Jared's shoulders in the turmoil and pulled at him. It was pouring rain, with waves just as loud and harsh as the crash, the same color as the sky, but he swore he heard people yelling. Jared caught on through the disorientation and focused on swimming for the chunk of wreckage, which seemed to be moving farther and farther away. For a moment he stopped to call out for Aldo, but Jensen pulled him forward again. "We need to go!" He shouted, though he could barely hear his own voice over the crashing waves.

Jared climbed it first, reaching back to help Jensen on. The surface was slick and cold, barely able to hold both of them, but through that Jared was able to stay on his knees, looking madly around for others, screaming while Jensen slumped next to him.

From his spot next to Jared he thought he could make out shapes in the water, maybe people, but they were so far away and it was so dark. Adrenalin bled from his limbs and he wanted to collapse, but everything in him was holding onto a bar on the far end of their craft. One wave threw them both sideways and Jared toppled over him and fell over the edge. After he pulled him back on Jared wrapped himself around the bar too. He was docile, and Jensen couldn't be sure if it was from fatigue or if he'd just given up. They didn't see anyone else. They didn't see Aldo, who'd been right behind them before they hit water. He couldn't think after that. He just rode the waves, hearing nothing but the swell and rain and Jared's terrible breathing. Actually, that was the only source of comfort.

When the rain slowed, Jensen dared to close his eyes, but his body's eagerness to fall into sleep scared him. He told himself he had the rest of his life to sleep, and he squeezed the bar in reassurance. The quieter the rain became, the more he was aware of the temperature. July was a winter month in this part of the world. Although their previous nights had stayed in the 50°s, tonight was the first in a series of storms. Jared sat up, shivering and wringing stiff arms and fingers, almost sliding off the structure again. Jensen grabbed for him just to be safe. The two of them starred at each other in the darkness, wondering if there was anything to say, but nothing came out. What could they say now?

Red lights blinked in the sky miles away. Rescue helicopters. It seemed like they were on the other side of the ocean, the farthest they could be. Jared croaked out Jensen's name, just once, like it was a begging didn't talk after that. Soon after the lights went out, and that's when the temperature really started to set in for them. Every so often a wave would hit and their arms or feet would be splashed with icy water. It did nothing to help the hypothermia they knew they were developing. Jared was clammy pale and Jensen couldn't stop shivering. His body was jerking more violently by the minute and as the rain and wind died down, the more the freezing cold was the only thing they could focus on.

Jensen's numb hold on the bar faltered and he bumped into Jared, who immediately dug an arm under him, turning Jensen around to face the sky and pulling him down underneath him. Hypothermia slows the mind, numbs coordination, makes you sleepy. Jensen felt all those things while looking up at Jared from his spot on the wreckage, clinging to his soaked but warmer clothes beneath him.

"We'll take turns." Jared said, louder than he needed to. They were face to face. Jensen nodded and kept his eyes on him, at first, then they wandered to the stars. The clouds that remained were far from them, little black lumps traveling under the night sky. It took everything for Jensen to focus on that instead of the cold.

"Are you warmer?"

"Yeah." Jensen refocused his attention on the titan above him.

"Is there anything else we can do?"

Jensen shook his head. Every movement made for unnecessary cold. "I don't think so. We'll survive."

Jared huffed out. "Close your eyes, rest a little, okay?"

Jensen accepted the offer and buried his hands more into Jared's clothes, pulling the front of him down closer for warmth. Jared was strong for him while he drifted and shook. They had both sounded so hollow and desperate when they spoke. It scared Jensen that he didn't recognize his own voice, but hearing Jared's lifeless tone made it worse.

Shallow breathing in his ear brought Jensen out of his sleep and his adrenalin shot up again, his heart pounding uncomfortably, having no idea how long he'd been out. "Alright, alright, my turn okay-" He pushed against Jared who had weakened considerably. "Jesus, Jared, come on..." He helped him take his hands off the bar and fear rose within him as he watched Jared's eyes go everywhere while they turned in their place. He tried not to let on how panicked he was, climbing over Jared and blanketing himself over him as well as he could. One hand went to Jared's hair and face, rubbing the skin roughly to make sure Jared wasn't really losing it. "The sun'll be up in no time, right Jared?"

He tucked his legs tighter around Jared's while the younger man nodded back. If they got out of this, their muscles would be messed up for weeks from the cold. God only knew if that would be the worst of the damage. But those thoughts were wiped away as soon as they came. Jensen was here now, the only thing that mattered was holding onto Jared and staying alive.

Jared stayed burrowed under Jensen until the sky turned dark blue, then cerulean, then the sun crested; a weak yellow, then burnt gold. Jensen couldn't tear his eyes off it.  
\----------------------------------------------------  
End of Chapter one.


	2. Ice and Fire

Sunrise turned the sea purple.

Everything in Jensen rode on the fact that in another hour they could thaw out in the light of day, but that wasn't inherently going to save them. Jared was under him, stirring, pretending to sleep or chasing after what little rest he could get. He tried to give him privacy, as close as they were. Tried too keep his eyes off of him and keep still. Tried to ignore the icy burn from his wet clothes all around him and focus on the sky.

"The'sun couldn't get here sooner," Jared croaked out.

When Jensen turned to him he re curled into Jensen's shirt and pulled him down against him like he was arranging a god damn blanket.

"We have hypothermia," Jensen told him, muffled against the wreckage and Jared's hair. "It's better the slower we warm up. The sun'll do that naturally."

Jared shivered in response, holding Jensen tightly to him.

"You need to relax your muscles, okay? Seriously, we're gonna be fucked up enough as it is. It's already warmer out."

His hand went to Jared's arm and rubbed absently over the muscles. With the storm gone and daytime setting in, it was different touching Jared like this. In the awkward silence he stopped. He was afraid to do anything but lay there, like sitting up and moving would make it all the more real. Couldn't they just stay like that until everything went back to normal? And yet, he was so anxious to do something about it he wanted to jump. It was his luck that Jared made the move for him, slowly sliding his leg up to bend at the knee.

"Fuuck!" Jared ground out, throwing an arm between them to cover his eyes. "Man, yeah, sore is right," he sighed and turned away. "I feel like a wooden boy."

Jensen nodded and sat up slow. Cold air attacked the newly exposed front of his body and his muscles hurt like hell, but he could deal with that. "It's the shock, post adrenalin, post getting knocked around and thrown into ice water -freezing all night kinda feeling, huh?" He winced down at his co star who starred blankly back at him from under his arm.

"Oh god, Jensen..."

"Don't." He waved his hand as if to wave the thoughts away, not really meeting Jared's eye anymore. "Give me your leg."

"Why?"

"First things' first." He manged the weakest smile for Jared, and as soon as it was done he felt a load of guilt wash over him. He couldn't smile yet, but at least he'd tried. He got into the most comfortable position he could and started to massage down Jared's calve and shin. "I'm next, in case you're wonderin'," he murmured, nearly monotone. Circulation was the most important, but they needed to stretch their muscles as well, so he made sure to cover all the bases as he rubbed circles into Jared's skin.

Jared laid there with his eyes closed, his breath hitching from the pain. "When I close my eyes all I see is the plane," he whispered.

Jensen stretched his leg from left to right, up and down, then started on the other one. "I don't feel like talking about it yet. It's too much..." Flashes of Justice and home and the plane falling popped over his vision and he shook his head, blinking to get them out of his mind.

Jared didn't say anything until Jensen had worked on both of his hands, elbows and shoulders, then suddenly he was sitting upright. "Where does it hurt the most?"

He sounded so normal, concerned. It was like music to Jensen. Better. He could feel a smile somewhere inside of him, and that was enough. "I hit my thigh in the crash so you can skip that for now. My neck's kinda fucked up..."

Jared nodded and let him turn around slow enough that it didn't rock the wreckage too much.

\----------------------------------------------------

The sun was bright when he felt Jared's hands on him, twisting his fingers into the tissue so hard at first he had to tell him to ease up. The guy didn't know his own strength, never had. After a series of silent cries and shivering from pinched nerves, Jensen started to feel better. He opened his eyes and dared to look out over the water. It was something he'd been saving, because if there was no hope, he wanted to pace himself until the realization hit him at least. Jared was running a thumb down his spine when he saw it. "Jared," he hissed. "God, Jared, look."

The fingers on his back stopped pushing and everything was quiet while they looked on at the mass of land just far enough away from them. "We can't swim that," Jared said, hard and sudden.

"No...but we can get there." He turned suddenly, "That's not mainland, but the islands around here are all populated. We're not that far from Australia are we?"

"You were asleep for a while, Jen."

That changed things a little, but it wasn't going to stop them from getting to someplace. "Whatever, we're not dying in the middle of the ocean, Jared. If we die from starvation or heat exhaustion it's gonna be over there," he pointed.

Jared was nodding before he could finish. "Yeah, I know. Okay."

Reality was hitting Jared now. Jensen could see it.

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Any way they looked at it it was a nightmare. The chill of the night was gone, replaced with a relentless hot sun. Their disorientation and headaches from the hypothermia slowly slipped away to make room for hunger pains. Their clothes dried, but not before they jumped into the water, in part to escape the heat and also to swim the wreckage closer to land. And after that, the ache in their bodies doubled while salt from the sea water dried on their skin. Jared ripped some buttons off of his jacket and handed one to Jensen. "If you suck on this it'll keep the saliva going." He popped one into his mouth unceremoniously after that and laid back to catch his breath. 

They didn't talk. The goal was too big and it was right there in front of them. Their coats laid out in the sun and their shirts wrapped around their heads. Anything to stave off heatstroke. He knew it was bad, going from a crashing plane to hypothermia to labor like this in the heat. Fatigue was getting the better of him again. He was hungry, and Jared must have noticed because he had a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?"

"I just need to lay down again." He solemnly took the button from his mouth and pocketed it before draping the jacket over his face and got comfortable on the overly warm surface of plane wreckage next to him.

Minutes went by before Jared mentioned the smashed but edible food hidden in his coat. They split a pack of dried mangoes and grimaced at the salted cashews, agreeing that the salt on their lips from the sea water was enough for one day. They would eat those last if they had too. The day went like that. Birds flew quietly above them, the water and the sky never changed.

\----------------------------------------------------

"I don't want to stay here overnight again, Jensen."

Wind picked up when the clouds finally rolled in, and Jensen knew they were in trouble.

"When I was in college I knew some guys who swam across this lake...it took them two hours. It didn't seem that far." He squinted at the ridge of trees he could see. "It was about this far across...can you swim for two hours."

It was a statement, not a question.

"Can we live through what happened last night again?"

Jensen thought about it. If it didn't rain they would be okay, though the wind would be a bitch if it kept up like this. Their coats were dry. "It'll be hell...but it's better than drowning. We can do this, and check it out, the winds blowing us closer."

"What if the current takes us farther out and we don't notice?"

"We won't let it happen."

Jensen laid back on their drift with his arms reaching and his jacket unzipped. "Come'ere."

They both knew an erotic joke would have wedged it's self into the conversation under normal circumstances, but instead Jared just looked worriedly on at the island once more before stiffly kneeling down over his friend, staying on his elbows at first. "I really just wanna get there, you know?"

"You think I don't want to?" Jensen answered up at him. The air was already warmer between them and Jared sunk down into it, tucking his own open coat around Jensen's waist.

"There should have been helicopters," Jared mumbled. And Jensen couldn't help feeling knocked down a peg. He nodded and closed his eyes.

\----------------------------------------------------

Rain woke him up and the sky was black, but thank god they could still make out the line of the trees when they turned to locate it. They switched positions without ceremony, Jared sleepily trying to make himself smaller under him for warmth. The temperature was numbing but Jensen reluctantly wrapped an arm around the bar above them to keep from getting bumped off in the waves. Sleep was probably out of the question at this point, but he buried his face into Jared's hair for the warmth anyway. He shook for what seemed like the rest of the night. He didn't remember falling asleep, but before day light, all he could recall was the sound of crashing waves against Jared's deep breathing over his ear.  
\----------------------------------------------------  
End of Chapter two.


End file.
